The Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) has said it stands "shoulder to shoulder" with Manchester City star Raheem Sterling over alleged racist abuse at Chelsea on Saturday.
Sterling was collecting the ball from behind the Chelsea goal on Saturday and a fan was caught on camera heckling abuse at the England international.
Chelsea and the Metropolian Police are both investigating the incident, which Sterling has been very vocal about on social media.
The PFA released a statement that said: "The PFA condemn, in the strongest terms, the increase in racial abuse our members have been receiving from the terraces.
"We encourage all clubs to take the strongest possible action for fans found guilty of racially abusing players.
"Over the past two weeks, we have seen two alleged high-profile racist incidents happen from the stands at Premier League games.
"We stress to all clubs the importance of dealing with these incidents robustly. It is not acceptable for our members to find themselves subject to racist abuse, simply for showing up to work and performing for their team.
"This weekend, following the video footage appearing to show a fan shouting racist abuse at Raheem Sterling, we have been in close contact with his agent, and extend our full support to Raheem.
"We commend Raheem for his professionalism during the incident and the statement he made via Instagram on Sunday.
"We have been aware for a few months of the targeting Raheem faces in the press, it is evident that he is often singled out and treated more harshly than his colleagues.
"As such, these stories are fuelling racism within the game, as reports of racist abuse continue to rise.
"In November, anti-discrimination charity - and PFA funded partner - Kick It Out released figures that showed reports of discriminatory abuse within football were up 11 per cent last season (17/18), the sixth successive annual rise.
"Of the 520 reported incidents, 53 per cent were racism related - a 22 per cent increase from the previous season.
"While it may be true that no racial slurs have been used in the press coverage received by Raheem and others, we are in no doubt that the negative influences public opinion and emboldens racist rhetoric."